The Straw Hats come to Seireitei
by DragonOfTheBlackMoon
Summary: The Straw Hat crew manages to sail to soul society, throwing Soul society into chaos. Set after Aizen has been beaten. My first fanfic. Enjoy. Possible Rukia/Ichigo pairing, but I'm as yet undecided.
1. Chapter 1 Land Ahead

Disclaimer; **Obviously, I do not own any of the characters from One Piece or Bleach, neither do I own Seireitei, I mean, come on, do I look like either Kubo Tite or Oda Eiichiro? I mean, I'm not a guy, and neither am I japanese . The only thing I do own is this plotline. :D**

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**Chapter 1. Land Ahead**

'Oi! Guys! There's land ahead!' Zoro called lazily from his post at the top of the mast.

'Yes! Finally! What's it look like?' Usopp yelled as he sped towards the front of the ship.

'How should I know?' Zoro yelled back.

'You're the one who just said there's land!' Usopp responded, irritated as he got to the front of the ship and peered between the gaps in the mane of the Sunny's figurehead, 'Oi! Luffy! Come look at this!'

Luffy appeared in the doorway to the galley and rocketed over 'Wow! I want to go there!' He pointed at the centre of the town they saw before them. By this point Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Sanji had also got to them and they all stood staring in anticipation towards the town.

'Hey, but doesn't it look a bit…run down closer to us' Robin commented as she took in the view, 'The buildings look quite old though, and it looks like there are some ruins towards the centre.' She pointed towards a pair of stone pillars on top of a cliff.

'Good job there's land finally.' Sanji said, looking relieved. 'I'd been getting worried. With the amount he eats,' he jerked a thumb towards Luffy, 'I was beginning to think we would run out of food.'

'I need some more medicine supplies' Chopper piped up.

'And I need some more cola' Franky added.

'I need milk' Brooke called from the doorway to the galley.

They all looked expectantly towards Nami.

'Fine. I'll give you all a share of the treasure we've got left from Thriller Bark.'

Suddenly Luffy shouted 'MEAT! FOOD!' spraying them all with half chewed food.

'You're already eating dumbass!' Nami shouted back at him before heading towards her cabin complaining about Luffy under her breath, 'Oi! Zoro! You need anything from here?' she shouted up at his post

'Nah! I'm good thanks!' Zoro replied

'Good.' She headed back to her cabin as did everyone else, so they could get changed.

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Ichigo leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, eyes closed.

Finally some peace. No Kon, no Urahara, no annoying father, just peace. Bliss.

Opening his eyes briefly, he reached across the desk and pressed the play button on his CD player, then leant back and listened to the music.

Two seconds later, Rukia came tumbling through the door,

'Ichigo!' she screeched over the music.

Ichigo deigned to open one eye, 'What now?' He groaned.

'Intruders in Seireitei, that's what!' she snapped at him as a hell butterfly fluttered lazily in through the window. Sighing, she extended her hand for the butterfly to land on her outstretched finger, but instead the butterfly fluttered around Ichigo, batting slightly against his hair until he raised his hand.

The butterfly landed lightly on his finger and relayed its message. Ichigo's other eye opened and he sat up, taking his bare feet off the desk.

'Seems you're right, and we've both got meetings to get to,' he sighed at Rukia as he disappeared beneath his desk in search for his zori.

'Ouch!' he exclaimed as a dull thunk sounded through the wood when his head hit the underside of he desk, 'Where are my damn zori?' he muttered.

Sighing, Rukia reached beneath the desk and pulled them out, before walking round the desk to plonk them on Ichigo's back,

'There.'

'Ah, thanks Rukia' Ichigo reappeared and pulled the zori off his back and onto the floor so he could slip his feet, now clad in socks, into the zori before tying them. Rukia moved to the door,

'Well I'll be off then Ichigo, you know, places to go, people to see…' she turned, but a split second later was halted,

'Hang on Rukia' Ichigo called.

'What now?' she turned to argue, but stopped when she noticed he had a worried frown on his face,

'Take your zanpakuto.'

'What? Ichigo you know we're not allowed to carry our zanpakuto's around S-'

'Just do it,' he interrupted her, 'My orders, but in any case, Yamamoto has ordered it.'

He stood and brusquely brushed past her to where Zangetsu leant against the wall.

'You too? What in the world…?'

'Hurry up Rukia. I doubt the grey haired dude will wait for you forever.'

'Assuming you mean the first squad vice-captain, his name, as you should well know by now, is Sasakibe.' Rukia lectured.

'Fine, fine. Just go pick up Shirayuki and go already' Ichigo waved a dismissal at her as he perced on the windowsill of the open window, 'I'm going on ahead, see 'ya.' With that, Ichigo dropped from view out of the window.

Muttering to herself, Rukia turned and left the room.

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**My first fanfic, so let me know what you think, I'm always pleased to get any feedback on anything I write :D**


	2. Chapter 2 Landing

**Disclaimer;** **Obviously, I do not own any of the characters from One Piece or Bleach, neither do I own Seireitei, I mean, come on, do I look like either Kubo Tite or Oda Eiichiro? I mean, I'm not a guy, and neither am I japanese. The only thing I do own is this plotline. :D**

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**Chapter 2. Landing**

Nami and Robin were the last to leave the ship.

'Nami-chwan! Robin-swan!' Sanji called as he ran around in the hope of catching them when they jumped down.

'Oh great.' Nami muttered to Robin, 'I knew there was a reason I should have left before Sanji.'

Robin smiled before crossing her arms before her.

Several arms grew from the side of the ship and bent to form a ladder

'You're an angel, Robin.' Nami grinned before beginning to climb down. As she reached the bottom Robin climbed down after her, the arms disappearing as she passed them. As she finally touched the ground, the last of the arms disappeared and Nami called them all together as Luffy and Zoro began to amble off.

'Oi! You two! Come back here!' she called. For once they did as they were told and returned to the small group,

'Now this is quite a big place, so we're going to regroup at that cliff with the ruins that Robin wants top visit since it's pretty high up and central okay. Now we're going to explore, so lets say we'll meet there at sunset okay? This area seems to be pretty run-down so be on your guard, but just in case, we're going to pair up as we walk through here. Got it?' Everyone nodded, and paired up with someone; Nami, much to Sanji's disappointment, with Robin, Franky with Chopper, Luffy with Zoro, and Brooke, Usopp and Sanji as a group.

'Let's go then!' Luffy shouted before running off 'C'mon Zoro!' he shouted, stretching his arm back to seize Zoro and launch him forwards. Zoro rocketed forwards, cursing his captain as he was flung headfirst along an empty street and finally landed unceremoniously in a huge puddle. He was not amused. As Luffy caught up to him, he began to shout,

'What is wrong with you? I thought I told you next time you did that I'd cut you up.'

'Ah, did you?' Luffy grinned under his trademark straw hat, 'Ah, well. Never mind.' He grinned as they continued running towards the centre of the town.

The rest of the crew stared after them.

'Do you think it's alright? Leaving that pair together?' Chopper watched anxiously as they disappeared around a corner.

'Don't worry about them.' Nami waved it off, 'They're strong enough to take care of themselves'

'But that wasn't -'Chopper began,

''Don't worry about the stupid marimo' Sanji muttered as he lit a cigarette, 'He'll get them lost so they probably won't meet up, but like Nami-chan said they're strong enough to take care of themselves.'

Chopper didn't look any more reassured.

'Well, let's go then, Brooke, Usopp.' Sanji wandered off, and Brooke and Usopp trailed behind.

'C'mon Chopper. You need medical supplies, right?' Chopper nodded, 'Let's go then. See you girls later.' Franky headed off in the opposite direction to Sanji and Chopper trotted after him.

'So, which way then, Robin?' Nami turned to her, 'how about…that way?' she pointed down the path Luffy and Sanji had taken, then started in that direction without waiting for a reply, turning only to make sure Robin was following.

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Renji woke up in his room, paperwork he was supposed to have completed sticking to his face. Seireitei's alarms were sounding noisily. Cursing loudly, he grabbed Zabimaru and ran to the 9th division barracks. Hisagi was already there, as was the rest of the squad, all waiting patiently for him to appear.

'Did you get the hell butterfly?' Hisagi asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

'Ah, no.' Renji scratched the back of his head as he turned red, 'I, ah, must have slept through it.'

'You're lucky,' Hisagi sighed, 'I was about to leave. We have meetings to go to. There're intruders in Seireitei, it seems.'

Renji cursed under his breath,

'I'd better go then. I'll see you back here as soon as this is over.' Turning, he headed back the way he had come.

'Orders say we're to carry our zanpakuto!' Hisagi called after him. Renji flicked this haori aside so Hisagi could see Zabimaru, then shunpoed out of the barracks and towards the 1st squad barracks.

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Panting, Rukia pushed aside the door to the vice-captain's meeting room. 12 pairs of eyes turned to look at her. Matsumoto was the first to speak,

'Well, Kuchiki's finally blessed us with her presence.' She smirked

Rukia looked around the room to realise with dismay that all of the vice-captains were present.

Omaeda threw another handful of crisps into his mouth, then scrunched up the packet and threw it towards the bin. It missed, instead heading towards the 1st division vice-captain Sasakibe's head. He sighed and raised his hand to catch the packet and after throwing it aside into the bin without looking said,

'Well, as I'm sure you're all aware from the alarms, we are in a state of emergency. There are intruders in Rukongai. It is, as yet unclear how they came here. Captain-commander Yamamoto has ordered that the following squads be dispatched;

Squads 2, 7, 8, 9 and 11 will move out into district 80 in East Rukongai. Squad 2 will go straight to the Ryoka's origin and move back towards Seireitei. Squad 11 will move from Seireitei towards the Ryoka's origin. Squads 7 and 9 will approach from North Rukongai and Squad 8 will approach from South Rukongai.

Squads 1,3,6, 10 and 13 will remain on standby as backup forces.

Squad 12 will continue as normal, Squad 5 will be available as messengers and squad 4 will remain on standby for any casualties. The ryoka must be captured alive and be brought back to barracks to await questioning. If possible this should be resolved peacefully.'

'Thrilling.' Rukia thought to herself. In the 6th months since she had been transferred to 5th squad, there had been nothing but messenger tasks for the squad. It had been all the squad had been permitted to do since Aizen's betrayal, and the whole squad was getting restless. She'd already had transfer papers from at least 12 shinigami in the past 2 months alone.

'Now would you all be so kind as to return to your division barracks and issue the orders. Thank you.' Sasakibe bluntly dismissed them and strode from the room, leaving the remaining vice-captains to rush off to their respective squad barracks, grumbling slightly.

'Kenny won't be pleased.' Yachiru said as she headed for the door, 'He was hoping for a good fight. So were Baldy and Girl-Boy…'

'Who's Baldy? In fact, who's Girl-Boy?' Rukia questioned.

'I think they're her new names for Ikkaku and Yumichika' Iba stifled a grin, 'Anyway, guess I'm off.' He followed Yachiru out the door.

'I'd better go wake up Kyoraku.' Nanao sighed, 'Even if he's just got out of a captains meeting and is meant to be organising the squad he'll still be asleep on the roof.'

'Mayuri-sama will be waiting for me.' Vice-captain Kurosuchi excused herself and the pair left together.

'Bye,' Chad rumbled as he gave a thumbs up and left.

'See you.' Omaeda grunted as he left, opening another packet of crisps as he went.

'Bye everyone!' Kira called over his shoulder as he and Hisagi made a beeline for the door,

'Bye people!' Hinamori waved as she and Isane followed them outside, leaving just Iba, Matsumoto and Rukia.

'Toushiro will complain if I'm late.' Matsumoto smiled, 'Even if we're not really doing anything for now, so I guess I'm off.'

'Me too.' Rukia grumbled, 'Not that I'll be popular delivering these orders'

'Squad still restless?' Iba asked, concerned as they all left the room. It was no secret that the members of squad 5 were unhappy.

'Something like that.' Rukia sighed, 'Anyway, later' she called over her shoulder as she began to head back to the 5th division barracks.

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'You gonna tell your squad or you gonna leave it to Rukia?' Renji grinned at Ichigo as they left the meeting.

'Urgh, I guess I will.' Ichigo replied grudgingly,

'She's had to deal with them all this time, so they're getting a bit put out with her, so I'll save her the headache and do it this time.' He explained in answer to Renji's questioning look.

'Good to hear you're looking after Kuchiki for me,' Ukitake smiled cheerfully as he walked past, 'He does take good care of your sister doesn't he Byakuya?' He raised his voice to carry over to Byakuya as he silently walked past. All three quailed under the look he threw their group before he shunpoed out of sight.

'My, my.' Kyoraku sighed as he caught up, 'always so cheerful isn't he?'

'The point isn't to be cheerful.' Soi Fon snapped as she walked past.

'Quite right. I want good experiment material, none of the hacked-to-pieces specimens you bunch of monkeys usually send me.' Kurosuchi grinned as he passed them. It wasn't a nice grin.

'Urgh, that wasn't what I meant.' Soi Fon muttered, before she too shunpoed off to rejoin her squad.

'I'll be waiting.' Kurosuchi said as he left, blending into the wall behind him.

Komamura and Unohana passed by, deep in quiet conversation, followed by Hitsugaya.

'Ichigoooo! Your guard's down!' Isshin ran at Ichigo, launching a high kick the impacted with his son's forearm.

'No it's not.' Ichigo sighed as his father fell to the ground as he was caught off balance.

'That's good to know Ichigo.' Growled Kenpachi as he appeared 'You still need to fight me in that rematch.'

'Whatever.' Ichigo waved the pair off, 'I'll see you two later then,' he turned to Ukitake and Kyoraku, then turned and shunpoed back to the barracks.

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**Hope y'all enjoying the revamp, and hopefully you can see what's going on ffrom this, though I realise it is a little confusing with all these orders. Don't worry too much if you don't, if you do, then you should be able to work out who might be meeting who, but that's all you're missing if you don't get it. Okay, I'm rambling when I should be writing, so I'll see you all soon with the next update.**

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	3. Chapter 3 The Cherry Blossom Petal Pile!

**Disclaimer;** **Obviously, I do not own any of the characters from One Piece or Bleach, neither do I own Seireitei, I mean, come on, do I look like either Kubo Tite or Oda Eiichiro? I mean, I'm not a guy, and neither am I japanese. The only thing I do own is this plotline. :D**

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**Chapter 3; The Cherry Blossom Petal Pile**

Chopper and Franky

'Hey, Franky…'

'What's up?'

'Well…it might have been my imagination…but did you just hear that?'

Franky glanced down at Chopper, 'Hear what?'

'Well, it sounded like people running.' Chopper anxiously looked down an innocent-looking, empty street that branched off the one they were walking down. On the other side of the road the ocean was still.

'Nah. I didn't hear anything.'

'Hmm…' Chopper frowned and continued to listen.

'I guess we'd better start heading towards that ruin thing Robin wanted to see.' Franky mused

'Mmm…' Chopper agreed, not really listening to Franky as they reached another road branching off their current path.

'C'mon. Up here then.' Chopper didn't respond, so Franky nudged him gently towards the path.

'Argh!' Chopper suddenly shouted, snapping out of his reverie. The street they had just turned down was long, straight and much the same as the others they had passed except for two details; The other roads had not had a woman with a fat tome under her arm standing on the roof of one of the buildings, and most certainly didn't have the grumbling pile of cherry blossom petals that she was glaring coldly at.

'Ah, Nanao-chan. Why did you do that?' The petal pile grumbled, as it began to move. Eventually, it was possible to discern that the pile was actually a man wearing a wide straw hat and pink flowered haori, who it seemed the young woman had dropped a large basket of petals on.

'Now look, Nanao-chan, you spoiled my dramatic entrance.' The man groaned before turning to survey Franky and Chopper.

'So you're the ryoka, huh? A swimmer and his pet…'

Chopper bristled before changing to his more human form, 'I am not a pet.'

'And I'm not a swimmer,' Franky added,

'Then what are you?' The man seemed genuinely interested, and not all that surprised by Chopper's sudden change.

'I'm a cyborg.' Franky grinned, 'And he,' he jerked a thumb at Chopper, 'is a reindeer.'

'A reindeer and a cyborg, huh? Not every day you see either one of those around here. Well, I'm Kyoraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th division of the gotei 13 and this is my Nanao-chan, my vice-captain.' The man sat down and the woman hopped down from the roof, 'So, who are you?' he continued.

'Franky glanced at Chopper before answering, 'I'm Franky, cyborg and mechanic and ship-builder on the Straw-Hat pirate crew.' He replied, smiling proudly. The man turned his attention to Chopper.

'I'm Tony Tony Chopper. The doctor on the Straw-Hat's ship.' Chopper responded reluctantly.

'Well, now that we all know each other, would you guys care to come back to my squad's barracks with me?'

'Well, actually we need to get some supplies. We only stopped off here to restock and have a quick look round.'

'Naturally you'll be meeting up with the others, right?'

'How did you know that?' Chopper asked sharply.

'Well, I'm guessing it takes more that a doctor and a ship-builder to sail a ship.'

'Oh. Well, yes, we are.'

'Mind telling me where?'

'Well…'

'Hmm… you're not going to tell me are you?'

Chopper shook his head.

'Okay… well let me think a moment…' Kyoraku reached up under his hat to scratch his head and tilted his head back to look towards the sky, 'It'll have to be somewhere easy to find for people who don't know Seireitei and Rukongai…So…I guess it'll be soukyoko hill. Those tall pillars on that hill over there?' He pointed. Chopper stared dumbly at his hip. His movement had thrown his haori out of the way, putting his katanas into sight.

'Oh, don't worry about those,' Kyoraku smiled easily. 'Over there, right' Chopper pulled his gaze away from the katanas and looked where Kyoraku was pointing.

'Yup.' Franky confirmed happily. 'What? He seems okay to me.' He responded to Chopper's glare.

'Well, if you don't mean any harm and this is just a peaceful visit I think we can arrange for you to get your supplies and be on your way.' Kyoraku smiled, 'Come with me. My barracks aren't far from Soukyoko Hill, where you're meeting up, and we can sort out some supplies for you from there.'

'Okay.' Franky smiled. 'Do you have any cola at your barracks by the way?'

'Hmmm…' Kyoraku scratched at his chin thoughtfully, '…I don't actually know…We have sake,' he looked hopefully at Franky,

'Needs to be cola I'm afraid. It's what I use for fuel.' Franky responded.

'Nanao-chan? Do we -?'

'Yes.' The woman spoke for the first time. 'We do have cola, captain, as you would know if you did anything other than drink sake and sleep all day.'

'She's very blunt isn't she?' Chopper whispered to Franky as she turned on her heel and began walking away.

'I heard that.' She called over he shoulder sharply without turning.

'Yeah, she is.' Kyoraku's shoulders sagged, 'My Nanao-chan's so cold… Anyway,' he brightened, 'let's get going.' He stepped to one side to allow Franky and Chopper to pass before following them as they trailed after Nanao in the general direction of the 8th division's barracks. 


	4. Chapter 4 Clash

**Disclaimer;** **Obviously, I do not own any of the characters from One Piece or Bleach, neither do I own Seireitei, I mean, come on, do I look like either Kubo Tite or Oda Eiichiro? I mean, I'm not a guy, and neither am I japanese. The only thing I do own is this plotline. :D Seriously, do I have to type this out for every chapter? I mean, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction if it was all my own original characters.**

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**Chapter 4; Clash**

Captain Yamamoto was sat dozing in his office when the hell butterfly floated in through his window. He opened one eye to survey it as it approached. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought it was drunk as it followed a wobbly, lopsided flight plan over to his desk.

'Kyoraku' he thought.

Seconds later, his old pupil's voice drawled out the message,

'Hey, Yama-ji. I found two of the ryoka, so my nanao-chan and I took 'em back to our barracks. Seems they're just here for supplies and then they want to be on their way. Oh, almost forgot, they're all meant to be meeting up at soukyoku hill at sunset. I've got a reindeer called Chopper, who's the doctor on their ship and their mechanic, Franky. He runs off cola you know. He's a cyborg so he's a really good drinking partner-'

'That would explain a lot.' Yamamoto thought as he sighed to himself. If they meant no harm there didn't seem to be any threat, but he wasn't about to call the squads back either. He let his eye close and leant back into his chair as he dosed off again, letting Kyouraku's rambling continue and fade into the background. Time for a nice nap…

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Kenpachi was in a bad mood. Not only had his sparring training been put off again, not only was he not allowed to fight these ryoka to the death, not only was he unable to find said ryoka, he was also lost. Yet again, he had been following Yachiru's directions and now he was lost running around somewhere in District 78 in East Rukongai.

'Oooh! Ken-chan! There's huuuuuge reiatsu in the next street over!' Yachiru beamed.

Kenpachi started to run again. He ran down the street and turned right, then, following Yachiru's directions, turned right again.

'Aww! This is another dead end Yachiru!' he complained, as he came face to face with a blank wall.

'But the reiatsu's here Kenny!' Yachiru protested from his shoulder, 'Ohh! Cute kitty!' She hopped down from his back to stroke the black cat that was circling around Kenpachi.

'Glad you think so.' The cat responded in a deep, masculine voice.

'It's Yoruichi!' Yachiru grinned, then picked up the poor cat and hugged her.

'Get. Off. Me' Yoruichi still managed to sound threatening even with a limited supply of air. 'I have some information for you Kenpachi.'

Yachiru released Yoruichi, who, looking relieved, took a moment to catch her breath again, her ribs feeling very sore.

'So? What's this info?' Kenpachi demanded impatiently.

'Your ryoka are a couple of streets away. Madarame and Yumichika found them. But actually I came with an offer.'

If Kenpachi's ears could have moved they would have perked up at this point. Yoruichi's offers were always good and interesting. They also usually involved a rematch with Ichigo.

'Well, you see, Ichigo's not had much practise recently, so I thought I might just convince him that it'd be worth his while to just wander around a bit, you know to 'help' with this new ryoka threat…'

Yoruichi left the sentence hanging, 'But I guess you are a bit busy…' She turned and began to walk away, waiting for Kenpachi to bite. Almost immediately he called after her

'Sure thing, Yoruichi. I could do with a good old fight. My zanpakuto's getting rusty again. Plus I've been waiting for a chance to fight Ichigo since he got here.' Kenpachi's teeth baring smile of anticipation would have frightened a shark.

'Well then. I guess I should go talk to Ichigo for you, wind him up a bit. Oh, and Yumichika and Madarame are two streets south, one street East. Can't miss 'em. It seems the ryoka they've met are none too quiet either.' She smiled and trotted off, 'I'll get you close enough if you want to follow.'

Without another word Kenpachi ran after her, leaving Yachiru in the alley by herself. She quickly ran out and followed with a smile on her face.

'If Ichigo's coming then Kenny will be so happy' She sighed happily as she ran.

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About fifteen minutes before;

'I feel particularly beautiful today, Ikkaku' Yumichika sighed happily as he practically skipped down the road, 'Do you agree? Do you think I'm beautiful today?'

Knowing it would pacify his friend Ikkaku grunted an affirmative and rolled his eyes,

'I just wish they'd let us fight these ryoka properly.' He muttered, 'They shouldn't ask us, the 11th division, the strongest fighters in Seireitei, to hold back when we fight. If they wanted this sorted peacefully why didn't they send out the 4th division instead?'

'Ah, now Ikkaku, that isn't a beautiful mood to be in.' Yumichika scolded condescendingly, 'the other squads will find the ryoka first if we carry on like this, and they only want us to solve it peacefully if possible. We're allowed to fight back if they attack us, and the bosses don't really know if they fight us or not anyway…'

Ikkaku grinned, 'So all we have to do is provoke them, and then we can fight them…'

'That's right' Yumichika smiled, seeming to sparkle in his happiness.

Suddenly, they heard someone shouting,

'Zoro! This is a dead end again!'

'It's not my fault! You were the one who followed me!'

They ran down the street and turned left, then left again. They ran into the dead end road to find a skinny guy of about 17 with black hair wearing straw sandals, blue trousers he'd rolled up to make into long shorts and a red shirt. Around his neck, on his back hung a straw hat and he had a scar under his left eye. The guy he was arguing with was taller, and older – he looked like he was about 2 or three years older. He had short green hair and wore black trousers and a green waistband, through which 3 katanas, one white, one black and one red, were threaded on his right hip. He also wore a white shirt and three earrings through his left ear. His arms were heavily muscled and the right arm rested on his katanas even as he argued. On his left arm, a black bandana was tied.

'But Zoro! I'm hungry!' The shorter guy was still arguing,

'You're always hungry, Moron!' The green-haired man shouted back. Their faces were inches apart now as they shouted.

'They really are idiots aren't they?' Ikkaku muttered to Yumichika as they watched, totally ignored by the shouting pair, 'Don't they realised there are people after them?'

Yumichika didn't reply.

'Ah well.' Ikkaku didn't seem to notice, 'I'll treat them to my lucky dance.'

Yumichika continued to become more and more red in the face. How dare they ignore him?

Ikkaku finally finished his dance, but the pair were still arguing loudly. Now Ikkaku was annoyed too.

'Hey! Don't ignore us!' Ikkaku and Yumichika shouted at the pair. Finally, they stopped arguing and looked at the friends.

'Oh. There's people.' The shorter guy grinned, 'Hey, can you tell us how to get to the tall ruin things?'

Ikkaku just stared at him.

'Oi, Luffy, is that a man or a woman?' The tall guy muttered, staring at Yumichika

Suddenly Yumichika could hold it in no longer, 'Man. I'm just beautiful. You're jealous right?'

'No. Moron.' The tall guy responded, seeming disgusted, 'God, he's just like Duval' he added quietly.

'You are! You are just jealous. Ugly people are always jealous of the beautiful!' Yumichika proclaimed, beaming.

'Who are you?' Ikkaku asked, ignoring the pair.

'Me? I'm Luffy.' The short guy grinned, 'Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the straw hat pirates.'

Ikkaku stared at the tall guy.

'Roroanoa Zoro.' The tall guy grunted.

'Why are you here?' Ikkaku continued his quizzing

'Supplies.' Zoro replied as Luffy shouted 'Food!' at the top of his voice.

'Were you always so unbearably ugly?' Yumichika joined in.

Zoro just glared at him. Luffy seemed to have just noticed him,

'Hey Zoro. This guy's got feathers stuck to his eyebrows. How weird is that?'

'It's not weird! It's beautiful!' Yumichika exploded.

'And this guy's like a cue ball!' Luffy continued, this time pointing at Ikkaku.

A vein pulsed in Ikkaku's forehead, and his hand drifted to his side to rest on Hozukimaru's hilt. Zoro's eyes flicked to the movement and his own hands moved to rest on the hilts of the black and red katanas. Ikkaku watched carefully.

Yumichika noticed the movement too, 'How do you fight with three Katanas at once?' He wondered aloud.

'I hold one in my mouth.' Zoro answered.

'I wonder how that works.' Yumichika responded, mostly to himself, 'We consider fighting with two swords to be cowardice, you know.' He directed this comment at Zoro.

'Who's 'we'?' Zoro enquired evenly

'The 11th squad. The greatest, strongest fighters in all of seireitei.' Yumichika replied proudly.

Now Zoro was interested, 'Your strongest swordsmen?'

'Of course.'

'Who's your strongest?' His eyes glinted

'Well, our captain of course, but he won't fight anyone who's weak. If you can't beat us you won't stand a chance against him. He wouldn't even try to fight.' Yumichika replied.

'So all I have to do is beat you and your buddy, then I can fight your captain?'

'Yes. But we're the strongest in our squad under our captain and the vice-captain. You won't be able to beat us.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

Zoro's hand gripped the hilt of the white katana and unsheathed it. Slowly, he put the hilt into his mouth.

'Which one of you two is the strongest?' He asked around his katana.

Ikkaku drew Houzukimaru, 'That would be me, at least, I'm the higher seated.'

'Luffy?'

'Yes?'

'Baldy's mine.'

Luffy cracked his knuckles and reached back to lift his hat onto his head, 'Fine.'

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**Hehe. Leave it on a cliffhanger :D**

**So, thanks for the reviews guys, let me know which group you want to hear about next, and enjoy reading the rest (when it's up - obviously) :D**

**Finally, anyone wanna beta read for me? I do check grammar, spelling etc myself, cause I'm obsessive about that, but typos do happen and I am usually tired when I write, so a beta reader would be appreciated if they want to do it...**

**d^-^b  
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	5. Chapter 5 Kenpachi Arrives

**Chapter 5; Kenpachi Arrives**

When Kenpachi rounded the corner, he was confronted with the sight of the four fighting.

'Well, as much fun as this looks, I'm off.' Yoruichi jumped onto Kenpachi's shoulder, then sprang onto the roof of the nearest building, 'We wouldn't want Ichigo to be late now, would we?'

Kenpachi smiled, then turned his attention back to the fight before him, 'Shall we just watch for a bit, Yachiru?'

'Baldy and Girl-boy are having fun!' She smiled as she watched over his shoulder, 'Go Baldy! Go Girl-boy!' She cheered from the safety of Kenpachi's shoulder.

No reaction from either of them.

'Wow, Kenny. It must be a really hard fight. They didn't do anything!'

Kenpachi just continued watching mutely as the unknown swordsman dodged one of Ikkaku's blows by spinning out of the zanpakuto's path and continuing the spinning motion to bring the sword in his left hand swinging in an arc towards Ikkaku's ribs. Ikkaku couldn't move his hand in time to bring his blade in to block, and the katana in the swordsman's mouth was shadowing the path of the one in his left hand. Ikkaku was forced to shunpo backwards, before he restarted his attack.

Kenpachi switched his attention to Yumichika's fight. It seemed that his opponent was attempting to fight him without a katana of any description. Yumichika had, unlike Ikkaku, already released his zanpakuto's shikai form and as Kenpachi watched he swung his zanpakuto towards the boy's torso. He just managed to avoid the attack, jumping several feet backwards, but the four wickedly sharp blades still grazed across his chest, leaving four` angry red scratches.

This battle was fully intriguing for Kenpachi – he had never really contemplated fighting without his zanpakuto, and he leaned forwards, as if trying to get a better view.

Now the boy seemed to be trying to keep out of Yumichika's reach, staying a good three yards from him.

'You won't beat me like this,' Yumichika goaded, 'to win a fight you have to hurt the enemy and you haven't managed to land a blow yet. Is my beauty so great you cannot bear to-'

He was interrupted when somehow, impossibly, the boy's fist made contact with Yumichika's jawbone. Kenpachi felt Yachiru wince slightly at the audible crack that it made,

'He's done it now' Kenpachi muttered under his breath just as Yumichika started cursing and shouting,

'Why you! My beautiful face! What have you done?' He howled. He paused for a second, and then the string of curses continued, though this time for an entirely different reason,

'Hey! You weren't even trying before! Why you ugly little-'

He was interrupted by a shout from Ikkaku as another of the mysterious swordsman's attacks came dangerously close – too close – though Ikkaku managed to dodge the blade in the swordsman's right hand, he dodged straight into the path of the blade in his left hand. The swordsman grinned as Ikkaku shunpoed backwards and removed the end of the hilt of Houzukimaru to put some of the medicine onto his bleeding shoulder.

'I guess I should take this more seriously,' Ikkaku grinned, fixing the end back onto the end of Houzukimaru's hilt, 'Grow, Houzukimaru.' He brought the sword's hilt and scabbard together as he said it and the zanpakuto responded, changing to its shikai form.

'It's our custom to tell our opponents the name of the man who will kill them.' Ikkaku began.

'In that case, Roroanoa Zoro.' Zoro grinned around the katana in his mouth as Ikkaku continued,

'Ikkaku Madarame'

'That's a very interesting katana' Zoro said, taking advantage of the brief lull in fighting to untie the bandana around his arm and retie it around his head.

'That's a very interesting way of fighting' Ikkaku shot back, 'I wonder; can you actually fight with just one of those katanas?'

'Sure I can. Want me to try?' Zoro returned.

'It would make you less of a coward' Ikkaku responded.

'Well, you only had to ask.' Zoro grinned, returning the white and black hilted katanas to their scabbards, and leaving the black bladed katana he had gained at Thriller Bark in his left hand, 'Happy now?'

Ikkaku scowled, 'Let's just get this over with'

'With pleasure,' Zoro smirked, 'but you think you can beat me with a spear? Even Nami could deal with you' He side-stepped as Houzukimaru sliced through the air towards him, bringing his katana up against the wood, 'All you have to do with a spear,' He flicked the zanpakuto away from himself, 'Is stay within a shorter range,' He moved forwards, towards Ikkaku, 'In other words, fight close range' He continued as he swung the katana around towards Ikkaku's ribcage. Ikkaku smiled,

'Split, Houzukimaru'

Zoro was forced to stop his attack as the zanpakuto spilt into three, the bladed end swinging around towards him. He only just managed to block the attack with his katana, but the blade still managed to reach around to cut into his left shoulder and he was left open when Ikkaku flung the blunt end of the zanpakuto into his face. With an injured shoulder, Zoro barely blocked the blow with his left hand and was knocked backwards.

'You know, that's the same mistake Ichigo made.' Ikkaku grinned down at him, 'Houzukimaru is not a spear. He's a bladed sansetsukon. Furthermore, nobody can read my attacks.'

Zoro stood up slowly, gripping the black bladed katana in his right hand.

'I guess I had better take this seriously after all.' He muttered, before slowly raising his head to glare at Ikkaku.

Ikkaku grinned and moved forwards, jabbing the sharp end of Houzukimaru at Zoro, then spinning the weapon to jab again with the blunt end, but despite the speed of his attack, Zoro avoided it, dodging it with incredible speed, and jumping up into the air and slashing down towards Ikkaku as he shouted, 'Hiryuu Kaen!'.

Somehow, impossibly, Ikkaku just managed to avoid the attack by blocking the blow with Houzukimaru's shaft. It was instantly covered in flames. Zoro grinned, as did Ikkaku, despite the burns he had gained from holding onto his zanpakuto. He span the bladed end around to slice through the air towards Zoro, and though the blade made contact with his upper arm, it did little damage as Zoro had anticipated the attack and managed to parry the worst of the blow before swinging his own katana into Ikkaku's forearm. The pair exchanged a few minor blows before moving backwards again. Ikkaku raised the end of Houzukimaru from the road and stepped forwards, looking at Zoro to see the swordsman had raised his katana horizontally above his shoulder and swung the katana around in a circular motion.

'San-Jyu-Roku Pondo Hou!'

Ikkaku attempted to block the attack, but Zoro had used the air itself for the attack, making it impossible for Ikkaku to block and he was cut in his side and leg.

'That's enough Ikkaku!' Kenpachi intervened. After all, their orders had been specifically to not kill the ryoka, only to bring them in, and he himself was interested in a fight with this swordsman.

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While all this had been going on, Luffy had been having a very interesting, albeit short fight with Yumichika. Now he had discovered that if he allowed Luffy to get outside of his own range it was still possible for Luffy to injure him, Yumichika was doing his best to force Luffy into a close range fight, and in doing so had also figured out that he could cut Luffy. Now he was intent on keeping up a steady stream of attacks which gave Luffy little opportunity to move away from him and counter attack. Luffy, for once, was concentrating on something other than his empty stomach and it was taking all of his speed and skill to avoid being seriously wounded by Yumichika's constant stream of cuts and slashes. Finally, Yumichika tired slightly, and took a little too long to move into his next attack, giving Luffy an opportunity to counter attack.

'Gomu Gomu No Gattling Gun!' The speed of his attacks meant Yumichika was unable to block more than a few of them, mainly around his head, so he was hit several times in the stomach and chest and was forced to move backwards, away from Luffy and his punishing blows. This suited Luffy just fine,

'Gomu Gomu No Bazooka!' running towards Yumichika he stretched his arms out behind him before pulling them back to connect with Yumichika's stomach, sending him flying into the air and over about two streets.

'Well well. I think I can have some fun with you guys before Ichigo comes.' Kenpachi grinned at the prospect, 'But for now, lets get you lot back to my squad's barracks. You can have somethin' to eat and a drink.'

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**Okay, so how was that? I've never tried writing a fight scene before, and it's kinda hard, but loads of fun too :D If you're not sure what the attacks Zoro used were, here are the descriptions, courtesy of onepiece wikia**;

**Hiryuu Kaen (****飛竜火焔****, **_**Flying Dragon Blaze**_**):** Using one sword wielded in his left hand with his right hand gripping his left wrist for support (or vice-versa), Zoro jumps high up into the air and slashes his opponent. After slashing them, Zoro's opponent then burst into flames (in the anime the color of the fire is blue) from where they were slashed. This was first seen being used against Ryuuma

**San-Juu-Roku Pondo Hou (****三十六煩悩****(****ポンド****)****鳳****,**_** 36 Pound Cannon:**_ This attack uses the air itself to slash the target from a distance. To initiate it, Zoro first holds one of his swords horizontally above the shoulder of his sword arm, and then performs a circular swing that launches the air compressed projectile spiralling towards the target, though he could just as well as perform it using any kinds of sword swings. Zoro introduced this technique as the very powerful Flying Slash Attack. This was first seen being used to finish off Braham in Eneru's Survival Game.


	6. Chapter 6 The Cat and The Bee

**Okay, so here it is, as promised. I actually don't especially like this much, so I might rewrite it, but I'll put it up now as I promised to write another chapter for today, and if I change it, I'll tell you so in the Authors Note thingy on the next chapter.**

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**Chapter 6; The Cat and the Bee**

Leaving Kenpachi to his fun, Yoruichi jumped from one roof to another as she ran towards the sea in the east of Rukongai. She may have managed to get herself here with some help from Urahara, but he couldn't help her return. Of course, there was a Senkaimon at the Shihoin manor, but she was meant to be in exile, and unauthorised use of that particular gate would alert all of Seireitei to her presence. All the squad barracks had their own Senkaimon, but she needed a captain's permission to use one in order for her to return to Karakura, and she knew just the captain. Speaking of, she searched quickly for Soi Fon's reiatsu. It was very well shielded, but Soi Fon still had yet to quite match Yoruichi in terms of speed and stealth. Strangely, she was separated from the rest of her squad and appeared to be moving slowly north, towards the areas that the 7th and 9th squads were searching.

Sighing slightly, Yoruichi adjusted her course so that she would meet up with Soi Fon.

Soi Fon was shadowing three ryoka, silently jumping from one rooftop to another when a very familiar masculine voice made her spin around, one leg already spinning to kick, when she was temporarily blinded by smoke and another leg blocked the movement of her own,

'Jumpy aren't we?' Yoruichi commented. Soi Fon turned red as the smoke began to clear to reveal Yoruichi, 'I need to get back to Karakura. I have a job to do for Kenpachi, but he's busy fighting, so I figured I'd ask you for permission for the gate to be opened.' Yoruichi grinned, oblivious to her ex-subordinate's embarrassment,

'I will, but would you please put on some clothes!' Soi Fon exclaimed, her head still turned away to hide her face. For the first time, Yoruichi seemed to become aware of the fact that she was wearing nothing,

'Ah. Sorry. Umm….you don't have any spare clothes handy do you?'

'No I don't! Why can't you carry this sort of thing with you?' Soi Fon had all but forgotten the fact that she was supposed to be being stealthy.

'Two beauties!' One of the ryoka, a blonde male of about seventeen, was staring at them, while the jaw of another, one that had the disturbing appearance of a skeleton with an afro, seemed to be nearly touching the ground. The third, who wore a bandana and had a strangely misshapen and long nose, simply stared at them, seemingly horrified.

'My nose seems to be bleeding.' The skeleton was actually talking, 'Wait. I am a skeleton, therefore I cannot bleed. Yohohoho!'

'That joke's getting kinda old now you know Brooke' the guy with the long nose muttered, just loud enough to be heard by the two shinigami.

'Oh great, for the love of…' Soi Fon quickly shrugged off her haori and threw it at Yoruichi, along with the yellow sash she used to tie it, 'Wear this. But don't let anyone see you in it.'

'Why don't you come down here and talk to us?' The blond seemed to be…wobbling? Dancing? Soi Fon couldn't decide how to describe it.

'That is grotesque.' She muttered to Yoruichi, now, thankfully dressed in something, even if the haori was a little short, 'Come on. I'll take you to find some better clothes before we go to the senkaimon. There should still be some in the Shihoin manor. I can't just send a cat through anyway.' She turned to begin to head back to Seireitei and the Shihoin manor, but found herself face to face with the skeleton,

'I wonder, oujou-san. May I see your panties?'

Soi Fon shifted her weight to kick the skeleton, but another leg beat her to it as it crashed down onto the skeleton's head. Two hands reached down to pick him up by his collar,

'No you may not!' The long nosed guy shouted as the blond shouted

'Don't talk to ladies like that!'

'I think we'll be going now.' Yoruichi smiled, they all turned to look at her, 'Come on Soi Fon.' She turned and jumped across to the next building, 'I'll race you there.'

'Mellorine! Come back! I haven't cooked anything for you yet!' The blond was "dancing" again.

'Idiot.' The long-nosed guy coughed.

'What was that, shitty long-nose?' The blond glared at him.

'Oh, a cook, eh?' Yoruichi asked. Soi Fon groaned internally. Of course. Yoruichi was always hungry, 'Well, if you tell us your names, maybe you can come with us.' Yoruichi continued.

'I'm Sanji.' The blond grinned idiotically, 'Yes, I'm a cook for the straw hat pirates.' The long-nosed guy slapped his own forehead.

'Pirates? Who's your captain?'

'Me! I am the great Captain Usopp-sama!' The long-nosed guy declared, posing as he balanced precariously on the apex of the roof.

'Liar!' Sanji muttered, lighting a cigarette, 'He's the sharp-shooter. And a pathological liar, and this pervert is the musician, Brooke.' He gestured at the skeleton.

'You're a pervert too.' Usopp muttered under his breath.

'What was that?' Sanji glared.

'Nothing.' Usopp replied, staring at his boots.

'Our captain is Monkey D. Luffy' Sanji qualified.

'Ah, well I'm kinda hungry now, so I'm going home.' Yoruichi stretched her arms out, 'I haven't been home in a while though, so there's no one to cook for me, so I guess I'll have to take you with me.' She smiled, then added as an afterthought, 'If you can keep up that is.' With that she started, running in a straight line towards Seireitei. Soi Fon waited for the ryoka to follow. She considered passing a message to Yamamoto, but decided against it – it would create more trouble since Yoruichi was supposed to be in exile. Finally, she turned and raced after them, catching up to the guy called Usopp in seconds.

Usopp wheezed loudly. Although he did spend a lot of time running, he had never run so far and so fast for so long. It didn't help that while the taller purple haired woman set a blistering pace, everyone else seemed to be keeping up just fine. The other, shorter woman had caught up to him, and seemed to be regarding him with mild disdain as he wheezed and puffed his way across the rooftops. It was okay for Sanji, who's legs were almost supernaturally strong from fighting, or for Brooke, who firstly could float between the roofs but also probably didn't feel fatigue because he was a skeleton anyway, but Usopp was one of the few straw hats, the other being Nami, who wasn't either a Devil's Fruit user or just supernaturally strong through fighting, or in Franky's case, extensive remodelling. Sometimes, like now, he hated that difference.

'We're here!' A cheerful voice floated back to him. He looked ahead to see the others had stopped two rooftops away. His relief was short-lived. This building must have been the manor the purple-haired woman had mentioned before, because it towered over the surrounding buildings, and he had to jump up there.

Wearily, he forced his limbs to attempt the jump, but tired as he was; he wasn't able to jump to that height and began falling helplessly to the ground with no Luffy or Robin to help him.

Suddenly he felt an arm around his waist and heard a low oath. The short woman, much to her obvious annoyance, had caught him and carried him up to the roof under her arm.

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**Like I said, I don't like this chapter much. At All. Partly 'cos it's deviating from my carefully thought out plan. Because I don't like this all that much, I need you guys to let me know what you think, that way I can tell if it really does suck and isn't up to parr or if it's just me being me. Okay, so hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully I will have the next chapter for you be next weekend. I am still on study leave, but I have 3 exams this week, so it is really unlikely I'll have anything done before then.**

**So, thanks for all the reviews guys and keep 'em coming - it really is nice to know other people are enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing this, but I really hope to never become one of those authors who give ulitmatums and such. Anyways, I'm babbling now, so I'll see you all next week (figuratively speaking of course) :D  
**


	7. Chapter 7 Sanji's Woe

**Okay guys, here, finally is a brand spanking new chapter! It was really good fun to write and I hope it's as funny for you as it was for me when I was writing it, but I have a very strange sense of humour, so it might be awful.**

**Anyways, just read, enjoy and review and I'll get the next chapter up soon. **

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**Chapter 7; Sanji's woe**

Sanji was not impressed. He had enjoyed meeting the two lovely ladies they had spotted arguing on the rooftop, and he had been overjoyed at the chance to cook a meal for them, but somewhere along the line things must have gone wrong.

As soon as they had arrived at the manor, he, Usopp and Brooke had been shown to the kitchen. He began to inspect the kitchen, which though unused, was clean and fully equipped with everything he would need. No sooner had he finished than the shorter lady had returned with some ingredients in a bag. Despite his persuasions she had elected to leave the room almost immediately, leaving him alone with Usopp and Brooke. While they sat and watched, he prepared the ingredients and cooked them before taking them out to the dining room where the two ladies were sat. The taller of the two had changed out of the white coat and sash the other lady had given her and returned it, now wearing traditional hakama and a backless, sleeveless top, both in black, with a white sash tied around her waist. She had also tied her hair back into a long ponytail with a thin piece of purple leather that had two small bells tied onto each end.

The smaller woman had put the white coat and yellow sash back on and as soon as he put the food onto the table before them she reached with her right hand to her back, where he noticed for the first time, that a short sword was strapped across her back. Grasping the hilt, she had pulled the sword out until about half an inch of the blade gleamed dully in the poorly lit room. Instantly, a lithe black clothed figure appeared. Dressed as they were in a snug black body suit and headgear that concealed all but their eyes, it was impossible to tell if this new person was male or female. He, or she, had instantly followed the shorter woman's order to taste the food. After a few minutes, the person had not fallen to the ground, so the taller woman began to eat. The shorter woman did not touch the food in the bowl before her, instead watching the other woman, as was Sanji whose eyes widened. He had definitely never seen a lady eat like that before. Within seconds she had finished the bowl of food before her, and reached over to pull the bowl to her left towards her. After clearing that bowl too, she repeated the process with the bowl to her right, and the bowl the other woman passed to her from in front of herself. Finally finished, the taller woman had replaced the bowl on the table and sat leaning backwards in a most undignified manner,

'Oooh! That was good! Maybe better than Tessai's.' she grinned and stretched, 'Right, I'd better go deal with this task for Kenpachi. You know how he hates being kept waiting.' She appeared to be addressing the other woman, 'You don't want to come do you?'

'Like I want to talk to him.' She snorted.

'Okay,' the tall woman grinned again, before finally turning to Sanji,

'Well, thank you Sanji.' She walked over to the window, 'I have to be going now, so I'll leave you with Soi Fon here. Bye now.' With a cheery wave, she jumped out of the window.

If he hadn't seen her jumping between buildings, Sanji would have been concerned, but he had, and besides, there was still the lovely young woman still sat in the room. He approached the low table a second time, picking up the plates one by one before he turned and took them back to the kitchen where he began to wash up while Brooke and Usopp played what seemed to be a game of cards. Just as he had finished the washing up and put everything away, the small woman had come into the kitchen, accompanied by three women. The first was tall and blonde, with an extremely revealing top tied with a pink sash. The second wore a very short, tight plain black dress while the third was even shorter than the woman called Soi Fon and had black hair and violet eyes.

'You need to come with us.' Soi Fon told Sanji, Usopp and Brooke bluntly.

'But I want to stay here and wait for the purple-haired beauty!' Sanji complained, 'I want to cook for her again!'

'Captain Soi Fon, I really should be back at my barracks by now.' The short girl complained in a rather masculine voice, 'Ichigo needs my help at the moment.'

'This won't take a moment, Kuchiki!' Soi Fon snapped.

'Look, you need to meet up with your friends, right?' the blonde addressed Sanji.

'Well, yes but-'

'But nothing!' Soi Fon snapped, 'Yoruichi-sama won't be back until after sunset.'

'Where's she gone?' the blonde woman cut in, 'I'd have thought she'd want to finish helping you out before she ran off elsewhere.'

'I'm perfectly capable of handling this situation by myself!' Soi Fon replied sharply,

'and apparently she had some sort of favour to do for Kenpachi so she's gone to see Ichigo, though I suppose she could have taken a detour to visit that Shiba woman on the way.'

'Then I really do have to get back to my barracks, Captain Soi Fon. It's vital-'

'Oh for god's sake go then, if you must!' Soi Fon had abruptly had enough.

'Wait, the purple-haired beauty is with this girl, Ichigo, and you're going back to where this Ichigo is?' Sanji worked it out slowly

'Yes, what of it?' Soi Fon snapped.

'Well can't we go with her?' he pointed at the short girl.

'Barracks are barracks, Captain Soi Fon' the blonde reasoned, 'if they'll go over to the fifth squad without a fuss…'

'Fine, fine. Let's just get going. You know we're not technically supposed to be in the houses of the nobility without permission, so I just want everyone out right now. If we're found here it'll cause trouble for Yoruichi-sama.' Soi Fon told the three women abruptly. 'Well go on, Kuchiki, lead the way.'

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'Sorry Ichigo.' They heard the small woman's voice approaching as two people approached, 'They needed to be brought to someone's barracks and our were the only one's they'd come to, something about Yoruichi heading over here…'

'So, is this Ichigo as beautiful as you mellorines?' Sanji leaned in to ask the remaining three women. Soi Fon ignored him, Nemu remained silently staring at the tatami mat and Matsumoto just smiled,

'Well surely she must be!' Sanji exclaimed, 'To have such a cute name as Ichigo-!'

'Huh? What was that?' The door slid open and a rather annoyed looking guy with spiky orange hair walked into the room, followed by the short woman, whose name, Sanji remembered, was Rukia.

'I was speculating on whether or not this lady named Ichigo who we're going to meet is beautiful or not.' Sanji informed him innocently, 'Are you here to see her too? Do you know when she'll be here?'

A vein pulsed in the guy's forehead.

'She's the captain of this squad, and she has such a cute name I'm sure she must be a great beauty!' Sanji continued relentlessly.

Another vein swelled on the orange haired guy's temple.

'"She" is here already' Matsumoto was finally unable to contain her laughter.

'Really? Where?' Sanji looked around rapidly, before suddenly catching sight of the orange haired guy's haori, 'You're a captain too? Where is she?'

Instead of answering, the orange haired guy turned around and lifted the heavy-looking long sword off his back and leant it against the wall carefully. Sanji read the kanji on the back of the haori instantly. 'Ah, which squad barracks are these?' he asked nervously.

'Fifth,' Nemu answered quietly.

'Captains wear those haoris, right?'

'Yes, Matsumoto giggled.

'The numbers on the back tell you which squad they're captain of, yes?'

'Yes.' Even Soi Fon was grinning now.

'And Captain Ichigo is the captain in charge of these barracks, right?'

'Yes' Rukia laughed. Tears were streaming down Matsumoto's face as she snorted quietly.

'All of which means he-'

'Is Captain Kurosaki Ichigo.' The orange haired guy turned back round to face him angrily, 'and it isn't a "cute" name at all! It's Ichi meaning first place and Go meaning guardian dammit!'

The women were by now howling with laughter as he fought to make his voice heard, 'Now I don't know who you are, curly eyebrows. I don't care where you're from or what you want. I just want you out of my sight and in a nice cosy cell right this minute!'

'But I don't want-'

'I don't care! You're going!' Suddenly the air around them seemed to become heavy, pinning even Sanji to the ground while causing Usopp to fall to the ground completely. The only one who still seemed able to move without effort was Soi Fon,

'For once Kurosaki, I agree with you. I'll take the trash out.' She reached towards Sanji and he was helplessly dragged off to the cells.

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**Soo, did ya enjoy that or did it suck? Please let me know, feedback is so helpful and really important! Ongoing plea for a beta-reader is still in effect, remember beta-readers do get the added bonus of getting early sneek peeks of what's coming! Anyways, I'll have the next chapter up ASAP, though I do have an Open University course to finish and my mates want a serious shopping trip, but I will do my best to have it up by the end of this week. Till then, over and out!**

**d^_^b**


	8. Important note please read Yes, you too

Okay guys, I'm soooo sorry I've been gone for so long. My AS exams didn't quite come out as I'd hoped so literally EVERYTHING got thrown onto the back burner. Anyway, I have now finished school completely, so I can dedicate my time to writing, hurrah for end of school! So that's the good news. Bad news is I've read through this and I've had some new ideas for the story, but to do them, I need to change some of the chapters, soo I'll change 'em and have them up ASAP, hopefully by Sunday. As far as I can tell the affected chapters are likely to be chapters 2, 4 and 6, but I'll let you know if anything else changes.

Thanks for your patience guys,

d^_^b

Update, chapters 1,2, 4, 5 and 6 have been altered a bit (well, added to is more accurate), so be sure to check them out so y'all know what's going on, 'cause there are some pretty big changes in places and i don't want you all to get confused. Also, the real chapter 7 is now up! Finally, we have got a brand new chapter!


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